India, Aug. 26 -- Financial intelligence is often treated as though it belongs to a particular professional class. The words 'financial expert' tend to evoke images of investment bankers, chartered accountants, economists, wealth managers or corporate executives. Yet some of the most consequential financial decisions are made far away from boardrooms and trading floors. They happen at kitchen tables, in small shops, family businesses and personal budgets, where people must constantly decide what to spend, what to save, what to risk and what to postpone. The ability to make these decisions wisely raises a larger question: Is financial intelligence really defined by what a person does for a living?

The answer increasingly appears to be no....